This invention relates to billing in radio telecommunications networks, e.g., in cellular telephone networks.
In current cellular telephone networks all billing is provided by a centralised system. As these systems are large, processing huge amounts of data, it is impractical for them to provide Hot Billing (i.e., real-time billing) or Pre-paid Services. It would generally take these systems hours or even days to provide a statement for a subscriber. For this reason, operators have implemented proprietary systems to provide these services. These proprietary solutions usually employ the use of intelligent network (IN) systems, which are very expensive and slow to deploy. Also, as these systems are proprietary, they do not allow roaming for the subscriber.
In accordance with a first aspect of the present invention there is provided a system as claimed in claim 1.
In accordance with a second aspect of the present invention there is provided a method as claimed in claim 4.